Our team

David Drake

David Drake is the founder and chairman of LDJ Capital in New York City and has been involved in technology media and telecom (TMT), realty, energy, clean tech and impact investments for over 20 years. Mr. Drake is also the founder of The Soho Loft Capital Creation Series covering the Private Company Marketplace and the co-founder of Crowd Funding Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA).

Mr. Drake’s proclivity toward energy, efficiency and impact investments interweaves directly with the TMT investment strategies, family office clients of LDJ Capital, and the Private Company Marketplace. His network extends across all continents and allows access to financing in the Private Company Marketplace from hedge funds, high net-worth investors, sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms, family offices to institutional pension funds to fund of funds. This geographical capital market access is in, but not limited to, US markets and London with exceptional relationships and focus on regular road-shows to Amsterdam, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Zurich, Geneva, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Hong Kong. LDJ Capital is headquartered in New York, with partner offices in Zurich, Stockholm, London, Abu Dhabi and Singapore.

Mr. Drake is the co-founder and an Executive Committee board member at the Crowd Funding Professional Association (myCFPA.org) - a national and global trade association with the leading global crowd funding platforms as members. He is also a founding board member of the CFIRA, the leadership group heading up US crowd funding for equity developments. The emerging crowd funding phenomena is the largest new financial instrument SMEs and start ups have ever seen. Mr. Drake was involved lobbying Senators and Congressmen for The JOBS Act which Obama signed into law April 5, 2012. The Securities and Exchange Commission is now working with CFIRA.org to identify best practices in the Crowd Funding industry.

For charity, Mr. Drake hosted the Harvard Club and Boston Symphony performances at his home and sat on the advisory board of Best Buddies Charity for autistic kids. Mr. Drake has been behind raising money for charities through his participation in producing the Carnegie Hall concert series.

Mr. Drake speaks six languages and holds Bachelor’s Degrees in both Chemistry and Marketing from the American University in Washington, D.C. He has an MBA in Finance and an MA in International Law and Economics from George Washington University where he was awarded the Wallenberg Scholarship for academic merit.

Charles Cecil

Charles Cecil has nearly 30 years of real estate experience as a principal and intermediary in commercial, residential, hospitality and retail property in the major US metro markets.

Mr. Cecil has completed hundreds of real estate transactions involving billions of dollars of property. He has been called upon to serve as an expert witness and was hired to manage the restructuring of a publicly held real estate investment company while in Federal Receivership.

Mr. Cecil completed both his undergraduate and graduate work at Columbia University, receiving a B.S. in economics and an M.B.A. in finance respectively.

Mr. Cecil has served as Managing Director of Barrington Equities, LLC, since 1998, first as a consultant and since 2005 as number two (C.O.O) to the company's owner, acquiring, financing developing and selling property in Manhattan. The company's most recent project, Greenwich Place Condominium (NY, NY) sold out for $70,000,000 in 2008.

In 2001 Mr. Cecil and a partner created a new financial guaranty insurance product and founded a new insurance company, INSURENTSM. INSURENTSM provides the first institutional guaranty to apartment renters to enable them to secure the apartment they seek.

From 1994 to 1997, as Managing Director of Granville International (New York, NY), Mr. Cecil was an advisor to investors and property owners including China Investment Bank (PRC) on acquisitions, financing and leasing in the US, completing transactions with LVMH and Casio among others. From 1991 to 1993 Mr. Cecil was Senior Managing Director of Banca Commerciale Italiana Capital Corp (New York and Milan) and was responsible for the start up of its global cross-border acquisitions/financing advisory concentrating on real estate and hotel clients.

From 1989 to 1991 Mr. Cecil was Managing Director of Cecil, Evans Partners (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles) where he co-managed this real estate consulting firm advising, among others, the Saudi Royal Family on acquisitions in the US. Key transactions included the acquisition of Marina Del Rey, CA portfolio of 3 hotels, 3 multi-family properties, two retail centers, office, marina facilities and development sites.From 1987 to 1988 Mr. Cecil was a merchant banker as a Managing Director of Hong Kong based Asian Oceanic Group and President of Asian Oceanic Real Estate Corporation. Transactions included mezzanine financing to acquire and develop the Hoboken Shipyards (NJ), The Charlestown Navy Yard (Boston) and the acquisition of over 30,000 hotel rooms, creating one of the world's ten largest hotel companies. From 1985 to1986 Mr. Cecil was a consultant, providing acquisition and financing advisory services to The Travelers, Davis, Kahn Investors and Vanguard Investors.

From 1980 to 1985 Mr. Cecil served in various posts at Royal Business Funds Corp. (ASE & NASDAQ), a real estate investment company with assets in major metro areas in eight states including New York, Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Colorado, New Jersey and North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Mr. Cecil began as an Asset Manager and rose to become Executive Vice President and C.O.O. of the parent company and President of all subsidiaries. Royal had mezzanine equity and debt investments in over 2,000,000 sf of commercial, residential, retail, hospitality and resort property which Mr. Cecil refinanced, joint ventured, developed and sold. After completing business school, Mr. Cecil joined Bankers Trust Co. in New York, working in Mergers and Acquisitions.

Tariq Jawad

Tariq Jawad started working with LJD Capital with focus on deal origination and execution for growth companies in China as well as responsibility for geographic coverage of the Middle East and India. His specialties industries are in metal and mining, infrastructure and real estate. Previously Mr. Jawad had joined Rodman & Renshaw in 2002 and helped build-out the life sciences investment banking practice as well as the European institutional investor network as a Director and Head of Emerging Markets. At Rodman, Mr. Jawad supervised the strategic advisory and equity/debt placement functions for mid-market companies in the Middle East, India and China in the real estate, infrastructure, energy, logistics and business services sectors. As one of the first 10 employees at Rodman in 2002, he set-up the Emerging Markets team and was active in building out the institutional distribution desk.

Mr. Jawad is the President of the Harvard Arab Alumni Association and the youngest member in the history of the Board of Governors of the Arab-American Institute Foundation in Washington, D.C. He also sits on the Boards of Arte East, Children of Abraham and ProjectExplorer.

Mr. Jawad is a Graduate of Harvard University, Class of 1997, in European Intellectual History and Political Economy. He was a 4-year Varsity Soccer team member and won the Youth Soccer National Championship in 1996 with FC Delco of Pennsylvania. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000. Mr. Jawad speaks Arabic, Italian and German.

Some of his Key Roles are: 1) Relationship Manager/Origination, 2) Management, and 3) Institutional Distribution and Placement.

Chris Fure

Chris Fure brings a lot of experience and guidance to LDJ Capital Fund efforts as he joins as the Business Development Director. He is a former partner and Business Development Director for 7 years at TransGlobal Ventures (a Private Equity firm in NY, SF and Beijing). Beyond serving LDJ Capital and serving as a Crowd Funding panelist for the Soho Lofts (NY), Chris also serves as the Development Director for the Abundant Seas Foundation (Washington), and he is a founding partner and the Head of Development for Wonder Animation (LA).

Chris' efforts span in media to clean tech from the development of a Wind Park in China, to the launch of the world's leading face-capture system with IP that originated in Moscow, to the creation of inner-city solar power stations in California, and water/waste management systems in Peru, to being a pioneer in visual effects and animation out-sourcing to both China and India.

Chris has been a Business Developer for more than 25 years, where he has supported and led globally focused projects with multi-nation partners, who co-operatively fill the spectrum of product offerings. Horizontally, Chris focuses on revenue-share JV partnerships for product production. Vertically, Chris focuses on performance enhanced strategic partnerships to develop new markets and product ideas.

Chris earned his MBA from NYIT, which was awarded with distinction (4.0 GPA), and he earned his BA from UC Berkeley, which was awarded with honors: his Political-Economics thesis was published by the International Trade Institute.

Michael Felman

Michael Felman is a global financial advisory with LDJ Capital and business expert with 10 years of fund advisory clients with over two dozen funds under his umbrella. Mr. Felman represents institutional investors such as family offices, venture capital, private equity, hedge funds and a select group of high net worth individuals and continuously sources deals for them and pins down the right companies both private and public, both domestic and international that may have the best fit for the funds that are our clients.

Mr. Felman has the knowledge and expertise to properly source, structure and evaluate investment opportunities for LDJ Capital's fund and fund-of-fund clients. We offer 60 years of legal and financial experience that they have come to trust.

However, Mr. Felman did not forget his roots. For over 20 years, Michael Felman was a practicing Attorney helping individuals and small businesses with their legal needs. Today, Michael Felman has been a trusted financial advisor to entrepreneurs, small businesses and large corporations in navigating the sometimes difficult world of the capital markets. We have raised over $300 million dollars for these fund clients. Whether practicing law or finance, Mr. Felman's and LDJ Capital's motto has always been "The Client Comes First."

Michael Felman is President and CEO of MSF Capital Advisors, a global financial advisory firm. His firm represents institutional investors such as family offices, venture capital, private equity, fund of funds, hedge funds and a select group of high net worth individuals. With over 60 years of legal and financial experience, the principals of MSF Capital Advisors have the knowledge and expertise to properly source, structure and evaluate investment opportunities for its clients. For over 20 years, Michael Felman was a practicing Attorney helping individuals and small businesses with their legal needs. Today, Michael Felman has been a trusted financial advisor to investors helping them navigate the sometimes difficult world of the capital markets. On behalf of his clients, he has conducted extensive due diligence on new hedge fund managers using a top down approach. Our clients are looking to capture Alpha while minimizing Beta. The organizational structure as well as the trading strategy of the Hedge Fund is carefully analyzed to first determine the level of transparency within the organization and then to determine the true risk adjusted return.

James Angelus

As an international business development consultant based for 20 years in six countries of the former Soviet bloc, the Balkans and the Middle East, Mr. Angelus is dedicated to the art of negotiation as a means to build to successful cross-continental transactions in win-win solutions; to help create nurturing environments in which these transactions take place; to overcome cultural and financial obstacles in the process; and to foster international cooperation from a base in the United Arab Emirates through efficient team-building and effective communications as a bridge between East and West, North and South.

Mr. Angelus, one of four sons of a senior U.S. Air Force officer, was born in Michigan and has lived in six countries and eleven American states, studied Business Administration at Appalachian State University in North Carolina and Political Science at the University of New Mexico where he completed studies in International Relations in 1985.

He founded Kanon International Inc., an infrastructure consulting firm based in the United Arab Emirates with operations in Africa, Europe and the Middle East in 2008; he is also founding member of USI Capital Corporation based in Washington, D.C., which is focused on oil, gas, and power projects in Central Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The companies are transaction-oriented entities with focus on cross-continental business.

Previously to LDJ Capital Mr. Angelus co-founded Panamerica Inc. with former Ambassador of Panama to the U.S., Juan Sosa, which consulted U.S. and Latin American clients; and held senior broadcast production and editorial positions with Radio America in Washington D.C associated with global public policy issues. He has worked on media joint venture arrangements with Gostel-Radio and Itar-Tass in Moscow in 1990‐1991, followed by an advisory position with Polish National Television in 1992. From 1993‐2006 he set up several energy consulting groups in Eastern Europe for publishing and organized a number of international events such as the "Black Sea Oil & Gas Summit", "PetroGazTech", "Liquid Fuels & Gas Conference", the "Oil & Gas Congress Romania", and the "Polish International Oil & Gas Summit". Most recently he designed and co‐produced the “Athens Summit – Global Climate and Energy Security” in Greece in May 2008.

On specific oil and gas related ventures with LDJ Capital, Mr. Angelus has consulted for a number of specific projects including the Odessa‐Brody pipeline for Ukrtransnafta, Ukraine; lubricants production at Trzebinia Refinery in Poland on behalf of Pennzoil; developed petroleum products distribution in Eastern Europe for Texaco; organized LPG distribution in the Balkans; participated in various E&P joint venture bids for concessions throughout the former Soviet bloc; and organized an international consortium for the First Afghan Hydrocarbon Bidding Round in Kabul in 2009.

In the Middle East, Mr. Angelus with LDJ Capital pioneered business consortia between local companies and international partners in the construction of high-rise buildings and labor facilities, and facilitated a number of joint venture introductions to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) entities for water treatment, power generation, mechanical-electrical-plumbing (MEP), road works, microtunneling and urban parking facilities. Most recently he has successfully concluded negotiations to build the world's first "rotating tower" in the UAE, designed and developed by Dr. David Fisher from Florence, Italy, and oversees new site prospects in Saudi Arabia, China and Japan.

He continues to consult with a range of international clients from Asia to the Americas as a strategic advisor for LDJ Capital in the development of energy and infrastructure in emerging markets, and has laid the foundation for the Pan-Africa New Community Development Initiative (PAN-CDI) in several sub-Sahara countries based on affordable housing in association with UN Habitat and the African Union.

Mr. Angelus, who is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Polish and Romanian, has been a member of a variety of organizations dedicated to commercial affairs and international relations over the past three decades, including the US-Russia Business Council and the International Energy Advisory Council. He currently resides in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates with his wife Kana Angelus from Japan, and is the father of four sons.

Gligor Tashkovich

Minister Tashkovich recently completed a two year mandate as the Minister for Foreign Investment in the Republic of Macedonia. The Government of which he was a part was elected on a strong anti-corruption and pro-business background in July 2006. Minister Tashkovich traveled to forty countries around the world convincing international firms to consider basing their European manufacturing, assembly and back office operations in the Republic of Macedonia. He succeeded in attracting nearly one billion Euros of new foreign direct investment as a result of his efforts.

Currently at LDJ Capital, Minister Tashkovich has managed to get retained by Platinum Partners to manage non- USA capital introductions for them. He serves as a founding Trustee of the American Research Center in Sofia, Bulgaria; an Advisory Board member of investment bank MC Capital in Sydney, Australia; a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and of its International Council; a founding member of the U.S.-Macedonian Business Council; Secretary/Treasurer of the New York Business Schools Club (a club of alumni business school clubs) and a member of the Advisory Council of the United Macedonian Diaspora. Before those appointments, he completed a term on the University Council of the American University in Bulgaria and as a volunteer adjunct program manager of The Sunshine Lady Foundation run by the older sister of Warren Buffett.

Previously, Mr. Tashkovich was the Executive Vice President for Government & Media Relations for AMBO LLC (the Albanian-Macedonian-Bulgarian Oil Corporation) on the $1.5 billion Trans-Balkan Oil Pipeline project, which will connect the Black Sea with the Adriatic Sea and cross the Republics of Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania. In this capacity, he met regularly with Presidents, Prime Ministers, and their Ministers, Ambassadors, and Advisers, has negotiated agreements between and among the three countries, marketed the project concept to oil companies, financiers, governments, international financial institutions, and the media; and maintained an oil & gas-related time-sensitive news distribution service covering ten countries in the former Soviet Union, Turkey, and the Balkans. He began working for AMBO LLC in mid-1994.

Additionally, between 2001 and 2006, Mr. Tashkovich served as a research consultant to First Data Corporation in the area of money laundering and terrorism finance; to the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences in the area of improving Ph.D. admissions recruitment plans for underrepresented minority and international students; to Coyle Hospitality Group as a quality assurance inspector of hotels, bars, and restaurants; and to Z-Card North America and ED.SEILER Pianofortefabrik GmbH & Co., KG of Kitzingen, Germany on business development activities.

In 2004, Mr. Tashkovich was named a delegate to the U.S.-Japan Foundation’s Leadership Program. Mr. Tashkovich is an official international elections observer for the OSCE/ODIHR on secondment from the U.S. State Department. He has completed five missions so far: Armenia Presidential Elections (both rounds, February 2003); Kazakhstan Parliamentary Elections (September 2004); Azerbaijan Presidential Elections (October 2008); and the General Elections of Bosnia-Hercegovina (October 2010).

Beginning in March 1992, following upon the leadership first provided by his grandfather and namesake (who was both a Senator and the leader of the Democratic Agrarian party in the Republic of Macedonia between 1937 and 1946), Mr. Tashkovich assisted the administration of President Kiro Gligorov (and from late 1999, the subsequent administration of President Boris Trajkovski) in the area of economic development by forging relationships with other countries, multinational institutions, and corporations. In this role, he has served as either a member or a guest of the delegations from Macedonia to the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia (London, August 1992); to the Annual Meeting of the World Bank/IMF (Washington, D.C. September 1992); to the Annual Meetings of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (London, April 1993; St. Petersburg, April 1994; and London, April 1995); and to the White House Conference on Trade and Investment in Central and Eastern Europe (Cleveland, January 1995). He served as Chief of the Advance Team for President Trajkovski’s 23-member delegation to the United Nations Financing for Development Conference (Monterrey, Mexico, March 2002).

As part of Macedonia’s drive to gain acceptance in the international community, Mr. Tashkovich successfully forged diplomatic relations in the Summer of 1993 between Macedonia and Malta; in November of 1993, between Macedonia and Angola; in April of 1994 between Macedonia and Uzbekistan; and again in 2001 between Macedonia and Georgia. Mr. Tashkovich has periodically worked with nine of the largest companies in Macedonia (from the aerospace, confectionary, construction, metal, hotel, pharmaceutical, retail, insurance, and telecommunications sectors) to assist their transition to a market economy by attracting potential investors and business partners. In July 1992, he introduced AT&T to the country and, after a year of negotiations, a contract was signed with the state-owned PTT (Post Office, Telephone, and Telegraph).

In September 1993, he opened the Macedonian market for Plexus Medical, Inc. of San Francisco. From December 1993 through May 1995, Mr. Tashkovich served as the exclusive importer of the international edition of Time magazine to Macedonia. Mr. Tashkovich also supplied over 140 different magazines requested by the United States Battalion of UNPROFOR (the United Nations Protection Force) stationed in Macedonia.

In July 1998, Mr. Tashkovich opened Western Union’s money transfer service in Macedonia and growing to USD $60 million by 2001. The service was extraordinarily beneficial for Kosovars fleeing the NATO bombing in Spring 1999 as well as for the United Nations peacekeeping forces who needed to send their salaries home. To meet the need of direct air links to the West, Mr. Tashkovich began lobbying British Airways in 1994 to serve Macedonia. He provided critical support which permitted the airline to begin, on schedule, the first nonstop service between Skopje and London Gatwick in October 1999. Within just six months, this route quickly became British Airways’ most profitable inter-European route.

In 1992 and 1993, Mr. Tashkovich worked for the Mediterranean Group of Companies, a Middle Eastern company that specializes in large-scale telecommunications projects. While there, he was assigned to the East West Resources Corporation as Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development, where he was engaged in the multi-billion dollar strategic overhaul of MGTS, the Moscow Local Telephone Company. He also provided input to the real estate development of the Moscow International Business Center project and the creation of a new Moscow-based airline. In Spring 1994, Mr. Tashkovich completed a consulting assignment for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan where he conducted demand assessment interviews for the feasibility of a digital overlay telecommunications network.

Mr. Tashkovich earned his B.A. in 1987 from Cornell University’s College of Arts & Sciences and his M.B.A. in 1991 from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Until he was elected Minister, for a period of over two decades, he was heavily involved with Cornell University affairs. He was the youngest member ever of the Administrative Board of the Cornell University Council in 1999-2001. In addition to a native command of English, Mr. Tashkovich has proficiency in French, and has studied Latin, Spanish, Macedonian, Bulgarian, and Business Japanese at the university level. In 2004, he completed a five year term membership on the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a 30 year member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) a charter member of the Internet Society, and a citizen of the United States of America.

Bruce Powers

Bruce Powers joined LDJ Capital in spring 2009, originally from Connecticut, USA, has been involved in the financial markets for over 20 years and possesses a wealth of knowledge in the areas of corporate development, trading, investing, and market strategy. His key role has been to develop investment opportunities in the financial services sector for the Middle East, and other emerging economies. To this extent, Mr. Powers has focused on LDJ Capital relationships with regional family offices and asset managers through the formation of strategic alliances and business partnerships with international investment advisors and unique financial research firms for business development in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

Previously, Mr. Powers was Senior Vice President of Arab Capital Markets Resource Center in Dubai, a financial research and consulting firm focused on the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) financial markets and developing economy. The company was initiated within Better Trends Group, Dubai, where he was Vice President of Business Planning developing projects in various sectors for rollout in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. In addition, he was a regular contributor to The Wealth Matrix monthly magazine on topics including regional economic trends and world financial markets. Mr. Powers worked as a trading and technical analysis instructor and content developer for six years with a leading U.S. trader training company and began his career as an investment research analyst at a Los Angeles boutique investment bank focused on the high yield debt markets. He has been an active trader for over 10 years.

Currently, Mr. Powers is a weekly guest commentator on City 7 TV's (Dubai) nightly "Inside Business" show covering international and regional markets, and a special bi-weekly contributor to the Gulf News newspaper covering the UAE stock markets. He is an associate member of the Market Technicians Association. Mr. Powers earned his MBA in Finance from the Eller Graduate School of Management, University of Arizona, USA.

Natalia Sokolova

Natalia Sokolova is a LDJ Capital director for investor relations in natural resources from mining and minerals we recently added to our rooster. She was also the founder of SGG World LLC - an international consulting and advisory firm for public and private companies in the energy and natural resources sector. Her focus at LDJ Capital is investor relations and strategic communication functions. She firmly advocate team's experience, industry expertise and innovative programs to help drive shareholder value for clients worldwide.

Ms. Sokolova joined the LDJ Capital investor relations team of dedicated professionals to help sync marketing and media relations with broader strategic goals that support growing shareholder value. Consequently we have partner offices in Moscow to help LDJ Capital to have an international presence in Russia, Europe and Middle East.

Natalia is based in New York but spends a lot of her time traveling and nurturing established relationships with high level contacts she has acquired over the years.

Ms. Sokolova was previously head of Marketing/ PR and IR at Bidz.com, the world's largest online jewelry auction site. Her team increased the sales revenue more than 300% in a two-year period. Natalia conceptualized corporate communications before and after the quiet period and collaborated with the board of directors, IR firms, and underwriters in connection with the BIDZ.com IPO.

Natalia started her career at the US Chamber of Commerce, International Division, European Affairs in Washington, DC. She graduated Cum Laude in 1998 with degrees in Finance and International Business from University of Maryland, College Park after surviving a life threatening car accident that left her paralyzed for several months.

Natalia is a Member of the National Association of Professional Women and of the Cambridge Who Is Who. In her spare time, Natalia is a dedicated philanthropist. Her event planning company, Exquisite Planning LLC , has organized many fundraisers benefiting children with mental disabilities and those of third world countries. She serves on the Board of Best Buddies Foundation and Sunflower Children.

Guillaume Gauthereau

Guillaume Gauthereau joined LDJ Capital efforts in 2010 as a strategic advisor to private companies. He was also the co-founder of TOTSY.COM, the leading US private sale website dedicated to moms and parents that www.DFJ.com is a venture investor. He founded the company in 2008 and very rapidly propelled the company to a leader position in the very active market of Private Sales & Daily Deals. Guillaume specializes at LDJ Capital to providing strategy to CEO & entrepreneur of medium size companies. Some of his clients include top CEO of the retail & luxury industry, the CEO of Lactalis (3rd largest World Dairy Company), Portofino,Alicia Keys & Alicia Keys Worldwide, Mintbox.com, Gustorganics, Faithanne, The Barber’s Daughters, Scott Lazerson, Wave Management Group, etc. Guillaume was also the business strategist of Alicia Keys from 2009 to 2010.Before starting his own ventures,

Previously, Guillaume was President and CEO of LALIQUE North America for four years 2005-2009. He managed the retail and wholesale operations for the US and Canada for the Home, Gift, Jewelry and Perfume categories. Mr Gauthereau was heavily involved in successfully developing the B-to-B business of the company including achieving the largest sale ever made by the company by providing all the crystals for the Palazzo Casino Room in Las Vegas. Mr. Gauthereau previously worked as a Managing Director for LALIQUE Limited in the United Kingdom where he oversaw the UK subsidiary of boutiques, shop in shops, duty free and wholesale doors. Before joining LALIQUE, Mr.Gauthereau worked as a Manager at Louis Vuitton’s largest flagship store on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Preceding retail, he was the founder of an Internet start-up, Alidoo.com, and worked in the Health & Pet industry for Nestle Ralston Purina and Hill’s Pet Nutrition Colgate . Mr. Gauthereau received a PhD from the Veterinary School of Maisons-Alfort in Paris. He also holds a certificate in Marketing & Communication from the Vet School.

Bianca Blake

Bianca is a Marketing executive with over 15 years experience working for major U.S. Corporations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles including Prestige Magazine, IMN/Euromoney, Nielsen Media and The Merchandise Mart. She has produced global conferences in the Financial Services, Luxury Goods, Jewelry and Home Furnishings Industries. She recently opened and ran the US Office of a Swedish business consultancy firm located in Venice, CA. Bianca started her career at MTG Media in Stockholm after graduating from The University of Stockholm with an MBA in Marketing. Bianca is fluent in five languages and enjoys traveling, sailing, art and interior design in her spare time.

Hans Wilof

Hans G. Wilof is a leading specialist in the international hotel industry.

After graduating high school, business school, hotel school in Switzerland and career development institute of Hilton international hotels, he launched the R&D sector as well as operational control sector of Hilton international hotels head quarters for Europe, Africa And Middle East in Brussels.

After managing Kuwait Hilton for two years he developed the research and development sector for operational control and development of new Hilton hotels in the area.

One of his specialities is analysing existing hotel operations, pinpointing ailments in operations and suggesting changes in operational design and implementation of new systems to improve viability. Wilof started up the financial feasibility study sector within Hilton International for new developments and introduced creative financing for hotels together with the banking sector.

During his Hilton years he was responsible for the opening of nine new hotels in Europe, Africa and Middle East.

Hans Wilof left Hilton to start a new company in London (Eurospa Chelsea Ltd) to develop Conrad hotel (Hilton Corp) at Chelsea Harbour. He was a part owner of this development. This was the first all-suite purpose-built 5 star hotel in London. It is now successfully operated as a part of Wyndham Hotels International.

Hans Wilof is presently heading up bloomfield Foundation Geneva, A foundation for investment and Fund-Raising for hotel projects worldwide.